Sport

Coyle closing in on Real deal

WANDERERS remain confident of pipping Benfica to the double signing of Marcos Alonso and Rodrigo Moreno.

The Real Madrid starlets – who it is understood will cost the Whites about £5million – have indicated that they favour a move to the Premier League ahead of possible Champions League football with
the Portuguese giants.

It had been rumoured that the highly-rated youngsters could be used as a makeweight by Real in the deal to capture Argentina ace Angel Di Maria.

But the clubs agreed a straight cash fee of £20.3million on Tuesday, clearing the way for Owen Coyle to make his move.

Reports from Lisbon claim Benfica are still very much in the hunt for the Spain Under-21 internationals, and are willing to match asking price for the pair who both forced their way on to the bench
last season under former Real manager Manuel Pellegrini. He has since been replaced by Jose Morinho.

But the lure of regular football in England appears to have given Wanderers the edge in what is likely to be Coyle’s first cash signing since taking over at the Reebok.

Chairman Phil Gartside has already met with sporting director Jorge Valdano at the Bernabeu and hopes to resume negotiations early next week.

Coyle has monitored Alonso and Rodrigo since the end of last season, watching them in action for Real’s second string Castilla on a number of occasions at end of last season.

Full-back Alonso is of famous footballing stock in Spain, with both his father and grandfather having played for their country.

Striker Rodrigo was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but assumes Spanish nationality and has 11 Under-19 caps to his name. He was signed by Real from Celta Vigo and has forged a reputation for
scoring spectacular goals.

Meanwhile, Owen Coyle has not ruled out the possibility of more new faces joining his ranks before the squad embark on a 10-day tour of the US and Canada.

Martin Petrov will be officially unveiled as the first signing of the summer on Thursday afternoon, but the Whites boss is hoping to bring more attacking bodies to the club to join the skilful
Bulgarian.

“I’ve spoken about one or two people, so we’re just waiting for things to click into place,” he told The Bolton News. “We’re back on
Thursday and a lot of other clubs come back around the same time, so things can move pretty quickly.”

Meanwhile, former Whites striker Ricardo Vaz Te has signed a three-year deal with Greek Super League club Panionios.